India, April 2 -- Not much has changed in Pakistan cricket. Purges were performed in the expected order after they failed to make the 2019 World Cup semi-finals---the entire support staff was dismissed almost immediately; a homegrown chief coach (Misbah-ul-Haq this time) was appointed who went about trying a host of unknown players (remember Nauman Ali, the left-arm spinner who got a Test debut at 34?), a phenomenal fast bowler like Mohammad Amir was allegedly hounded out after reports of strife in the dressing room and an all-format captain (Babar Azam) finally picked last November, nearly 15 months after their World Cup "debacle."

Yet, defying all received wisdom, the Pakistan team seems to have held its own despite such upheavals.

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